The Jagron
by One Nutty Tree
Summary: Piper is forced to call for Chris when Wyatt is infected by a demon they've never encountered before. Chris knows the demon from the future, but now they're all infected and he has a time limit. Can he save the girls and Wyatt from it in time despite Leo's interference? It'll probably get more OCC as you go along. I haven't watched Charmed in a while but want to finish this.
1. Chapter 1

"LEO GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Piper yelled. No reply. She humphed and turned to her sisters. "What is taking him so long?"

Paige shrugged.

"Maybe he's in a meeting. That's the normal excuse, right?"

"It doesn't look like he's coming." Sighed Phoebe. "You're going to have to call Chris."

"No way!" Piper protested. "When I said I didn't want to see him again I meant it."

"I don't want this anymore than you honey but we don't have much of a choice."

Piper contemplated this for a few minutes before giving in.

"Fine. CHRIS!"

There was a shimmer of orbs and Chris materialised in the living room.

"What?"

Piper had to admit, one of the few good things about their mysterious whitelighter was that he always answered her calls.

"You look tired." said Phoebe.

"And homeless." added Paige.

Chris rolled his eyes.

"That's because I am." he replied.

Even Piper felt concerned when she realised he was dripping on the floor.

"You're bleeding." she said.

He didn't even look at the injury.

"Yes. Now what do you need me for?"

Slightly disconcerted by Chris' nonchalant attitude Piper started to explain.

"Wyatt was attacked by an upper level demon but there's no record of it in the Book."

"Is he okay?"

"We're not sure."

"Let me see him." Sensing Piper's reluctance Chris elaborated. "How am I supposed to work out anything if you won't let me see what's wrong?"

"The last time you got too close to Wyatt the Order kidnapped him!"

"But Wyatt trusted me in the end." Chris snapped and strode upstairs to the child's room.

The sisters chased after him.

Wyatt was playing in his crib as normal but as Chris stepped forward he realised something was very wrong.

"Kwis!" exclaimed the blonde child.

"Hey bud." he replied, forcing himself closer. "What happened to you?"

There were strange blue markings all over Wyatt's skin."

"Warty face!"

"That pretty much sums up the demon." said Paige.

Chris turned to face the sisters.

"Did it have blue spike around its neck?"

"Yes, why?"

Chris started to pace and tried to keep a cool head.

"No no no!" he muttered.

"I'm taking it this demon is bad news." said Phoebe.

"Very. It's taken down so many innocents, I mean, it will."

"You know it from the future?"

Chris let out a bitter laugh.

"It killed my mother."

There was a moment of silence.

"Chris I'm so -"

"Don't. I know the potion that can get rid of it for good."

"What about Wyatt?" Piper reminded him.

"With any luck, killing the demon should get rid of the infection."

"Wait, you're telling me my baby's survival is down to luck?"

"If you want to research your options go ahead, but we don't have much time. Leo's healing won't work. We have twelve hours max. Now if you'll excuse me I have a demon to vanquish. Paige can I borrow your mixing arm? It's important that I don't get my blood in this potion."

"Erm…sure."

And with that Chris led the way to the kitchen.

"Keep an eye on Wyatt." Piper told Phoebe.

"What? Where are you going?"

"To research my options."

Meanwhile Chris started to collect the ingredients for the potion he still remembered first concocting at the age of fifteen. He'd had a whole year to grieve; the next stage had been revenge. He never got to use his potion however until he joined the resistance.

Paige watched the whitelighter ransack the cupboards and noted the jerky movement of his right arm.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

He reached up for another ingredient but quickly withdrew his hand, hissing in pain.

"That is not the sound a 'fine' person makes." said Paige coming over to him. "Show me."

"I'm – " She grabbed his arm. "OW!"

Paige pulled up the sleeve to reveal a deep cut that ran across Chris' skin.

"How did you get this?"

"Demon hunt." he sighed. "Could you do me a favour and pass the pepper?"

Paige obliged raising an eyebrow.

"Pepper? That's a little unorthodox."

"I didn't have much to work with. It goes in first." he replied.

He raised his arm over the mixing pot. It trembled. Chris gritted his teeth.

"Let me do it." said Paige snatching the pepper.

"Thanks. Just put in a few shakes."

"No problem. Just do something about that arm, I don't think it's meant to tremble like that."

"Okay." Chris agreed. "Put in a cup of castor sugar."

Paige raised an eyebrow but did as she was told. Meanwhile Chris bandaged up his arm.

"You must've really annoyed that demon."

"I got off lucky. I've had worse than this, today I was careless." Suddenly his eyes widened. "Paige did anyone else touch Wyatt after he was infected by the Jagron? I mean like skin on skin."

"We all did. I was worried about my little nephew."

"I'll take care of the potion from here." Chris promptly announced.

"Uh uh! You're not doing anything with your arm like – whoa!"

Paige swayed. Chris didn't bother to ask if she was okay. He knew she wasn't.

"Paige listen to me, this is very important. In what order did you all touch Wyatt?"

"Piper was first, then me, then Phoebe. Chris I don't feel too good."

Paige put one hand on her head and then stared at it in awe. Blue markings edged their way across her skin. Chris turned to look into the living room. With a wave of his hand the cushions from the sofa were on the kitchen floor. Paige flopped onto them.

Chris orbed upstairs. Sure enough Piper was already unconscious beside the Book. He orbed back to the kitchen, unable to believe he'd forgotten how contagious the infection could be. This was just one of the Jagron's many killer methods. He had to finish the potion fast. That was when Phoebe walked in.

"Oh my god! Paige!"

"Don't touch her!" Chris warned.

"What happened?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I forgot how contagious the infection is. All it takes is one touch." he explained adding more ingredients to the potion.

"You forgot!?" Phoebe screeched.

"Even if I'd remembered earlier it wouldn't have changed anything. You all touched Wyatt before you called me."

"It would have been nice to get a heads up! Oh my god, Piper…"

"She's already down."

"Chris we need Leo."

"NO." he yelled, then paused to calm himself. "Even elders aren't immune to this."

Chris remembered all too well how his brother had used the infection to wipe out the heavens.

"Chris we have no choice. LEO!"

Chris glared at her.

"The potion is almost ready." he snapped.

"LEO! YOUR FAMILY IS DYING!"

Phoebe collapsed. Leo finally materialised.

"Don't touch her!" Chris warned.

"What did you do?" he asked instantly.

"Me? Nothing!"

"Where's Piper?"

"Piper's upstairs and unconscious thanks to this super virus that demon unleashed."

"Where's Wyatt?"

"He was the first to be infected." Chris saw the determined look on the elder's face. "Leo, no! You can't heal them."

"Why not?" snapped the elder.

"Because then you'll be infected too!" Chris shouted.

"Well then what am I supposed to do?"

"Let me make this potion in peace."

Leo eyed the bowl sceptically as Chris' quivering arm added raisins to the mix.

"That's – "

"What do YOU know about potion making Leo? It's just like cooking; you're never there for it!" Chris yelled.

Leo pursed his lips.

"What will this potion do exactly?"

"Vanquish Jagron."

"Jagron?" said Leo angrily. "Shouldn't our priority be healing Wyatt and the girls?"

"If Jagron dies so does his disease."

"How long does my family have left?"

"Less than twelve hours." Chris informed him.

For a few silent minutes Leo watched Chris stirring and adding ingredients.

"Chris – "

"What?" the whitelighter snapped.

"Let me heal your arm."

"No. I don't need your help."

"Chris if the girl's lives depend on your potion making skills then surely you want to have a steady hand?"

Chris stopped stirring. Despite the lack of movement his arm still trembled. He sighed. For once, Leo did have a point.

"Fine." he conceded.

Chris thrust his injured arm at the elder. Leo's hands hovered over it and a soothing glow appeared. After a few seconds Chris withdrew his arm and continued to stir. Leo rolled his eyes. Of course he wasn't going to get a thank you.

"How can I help?" he sighed.

"I need to find Jagron." Chris replied. "Check Wyatt's room for demon flesh or blood. Knowing Piper that thing won't have gotten away unscathed. Use it to scry for him."

Leo nodded. He might not like Chris, but he had to do something and it appeared that the mysterious whitelighter was the only person who knew what to do; or at least, the only conscious person.

Whilst Leo got down to his search Chris continued with the potion. It was very nearly done. All it needed was mushrooms.

Even he had to admit that it was a bizarre, very unorthodox recipe but then again, little had been available to him at the time. He'd been so upset and angry that the familiarity of the ingredients had been soothing. He'd poured all his hate into one single potion, in the hope that it could contain the explosion until he found the right demon to unleash it on. Chris was unsure how his emotions affected the magic he put in potions, perhaps he was mildly empathic or maybe it was just a witch thing; either way, they did, and given Chris' current state of mind, knew he should have no problem in making the concoction explosive enough.

As well as the memories of his mother's death, he also had his frustration concerning his family's mistrust of him to take advantage of. He'd been used to Leo acting like this in the future but having his aunts gazing at him in such a way was different.

Chris glared at the potion and stirred the mushrooms in. It frothed and turned a sickly green colour. He gave it a few minutes to settle and the mixture turned a deep purple, with an angry hiss of steam. He coughed and reeled back from the disgusting smell. It was ready.

"Le-" He stopped and swayed. "Uh oh."

Chris shook his head and tried to focus. He hadn't touched Wyatt, or Phoebe or Piper or Paige – wait. Paige _had_ touched him when she was trying to see his arm.

Fortunately Chris knew he had a little longer than she'd had before collapsing. The power of Jagron's infection was diluted somewhat through transmission, but not by much. This only made the potion ten times more important.

"LEO!" Chris yelled.

The elder orbed into the kitchen.

"I've found it, I've found it stop yelling!" he complained, holding up a bloody tissue containing demon flesh.

Chris smirked slightly. He was getting under his skin.

"Start scrying. The potion is ready."

As Leo turned Chris let out a short gasp of pain. The elder turned to face him.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." he lied. "Just find the demon."

Leo headed into the sitting room and started to scry. Chris carefully poured out the potion into the vials and staggered after him.

On entering the room he fell onto the sofa but forced himself to sit up so he could watch the scrying.

"Have you found the demon yet?"

Leo was looking at him with unusually concerned eyes.

"No."

"Hurry up."

"Chris are you sure – " he reached out.

"Don't touch me!" Leo's hand retracted. Chris sighed, now he'd have to explain. "Paige touched me first. I'm infected." The elder's eyes widened. "Don't just stare at me! Start scrying!"

Finally Leo started to scry. Chris focussed on staying conscious and not panicking. Neither were particularly easy feats.

After what seemed like an age, Leo finally spoke.

"Found him."

"Where?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Not far."

Chris leant forward to look at the map. He almost wanted to laugh. The demon was just around the corner of the street! It looked like the Jagron was simply waiting for the Charmed Ones to die so he could claim their bodies as a trophy to show off to the rest of the underworld. Chris grinned. The demon was in for a nasty surprise.

"I'll get the vials." he said.

Leo looked like he wanted to protest but said nothing. Chris orbed out and returned in a split second. Orbing was faster than walking given his current state. He was panting nonetheless, the disease was sapping at his strength. Leo seemed to realise this too.

"Let's go."

They orbed.

When they materialised Chris nearly fell over. He steadied himself and examined the surroundings. It was a local back alley he remembered well from his childhood. His family had always sought to protect him from demons as they had done with Wyatt but it was no easy task for such a source of magical power. Chris himself wasn't powerful, but demons did seem to delight in using him as bait. On his first kidnapping he'd been brought here. The place still hadn't lost its air of menace. He smiled grimly. Of course it was night time. This was just typical.

He stepped forwards. So far, there was no sign of the demon.

"Where is he?" Chris asked, glancing in Leo's direction.

But Leo was gone.

Chris whipped around but not even the demon was behind him.

"Great." he muttered. He raised his voice. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

A throaty chuckle emerged from deeper into the alley. Sighing, Chris staggered forwards, grasping to the wall for support. He didn't have much time left and neither did the rest of his family.

"What have you done with him?" he asked, trying to inject a little courage into his voice.

There was a loud thump. Chris ran towards the source of the noise. He turned the corner to find Leo on the floor, blue markings etched across his face. He knelt next to the elder, but was afraid to touch him, in case the extra exposure sped up the infection.

"You don't have long, you know." said the deep voice conversationally.

"Where are you?" Chris asked, an edge of irritation leaking into his voice.

"Now, now, that would be telling."

He repressed a groan. The chatty demons were always the most dramatic. He didn't have time for this.

Chris stretched out a hand and closed his eyes.

"_Hurry up get out of the dark, I don't have time for all this lark."_

One of the things he had managed to beat Wyatt at was spontaneous spells. This particular one was supposed to boost his telekinetic powers. He clenched his fist and the demon was dragged towards him.

The creature was just as he remembered it, bulky, evil and spiky with a ferocious look ever-present on its face. Its body was covered in its trademark blue patterns. The markings decorated it from head to toe which made the plain baldness of the creature's head a stark contrast in comparison. Below its scalp lay a bushy monobrow, but one of its most noticeable characteristics were its clawed hands. They were not ordinary claws, they were spikes layered upon spikes; as were its feet.

When Chris first encountered the creature he had wondered how such a bulky beat could support itself through such unevenly splayed feet. However the spikes around its neck were far more mesmerising. These ones were more for decoration and reflected the moonlight in a hypnotic fashion.

He shook himself. He had to focus on the task at hand. Chris couldn't afford to waste a single second. He smirked. It was just as well the Jagron's glare had no magical properties.

"Bad idea." the creature snarled. "Using magic will only speed up the process."

Chris glanced at his hand, the markings were there. They were faint, but becoming clearer in colour. He had to act quickly. His hand went to the first vial and he threw the potion at the demon but it darted out of the way at an incredible speed and hurtled towards him. The vial smashed against the wall. This was not good.

Chris sidestepped and with an amount of unusual luck actually avoided the speeding demon. The Jagron skidded to a stop at the end of the alley and turned. Chris used this moment to throw the second vial but his arm fell short of the power needed. He was too weakened by the infection. He fell to his knees.

The demon laughed and slowly strode towards Chris, until he was towering over him.

"You know you're quite the surprise back home. Demons come after you thinking you're nothing but a pathetic whitelighter, out of his depth, and then you use your hands. We tend to think again after the first few lower level demons get their hearts plucked from their chests." There was an added hardness to the Jagron's conversational tone. "But look at you now, kneeling before me!"

"Sorry – to disappoint." Chris gasped.

His vision was clouding over. He could no longer see, but judging from the voice, the demon stood directly in front of him.

"I don't know why you even tried. The Charmed Ones _will_ die along with their "super-child" and an elder. Plus there's the bonus of catching you off guard. It's my lucky day!" Chris' hand enclosed around the third and final vial as the demon spoke. "You know, personally I think you're a lot more dangerous than some baby but look at you now! Can't even save your precious adopted family can you? Phoebe, Paige, Pi-"

"Don't - say - her name." Chris growled, all too unnerved by how close to the truth this demon was striking.

"Why not? She's just as dead meat as the rest of them." chuckled the demon. "Do you know what I'm going to do with the eldest? After I kill you of course. Although, I must admit you are taking quite a while to die."

Chris could smell the stench of the demon's breath. He knew from instinct the Jagron was at the same eye level as him now.

"I'm going to stab you now," said the demon, leaning forward. Chris gasped as he felt a cold blade-like spike pierce his chest. He dimly wondered where the Jagron got its numerous spike supply from, did its hands regrow them? "and then I'm going to– "

"Die." Chris finished.

With all his remaining strength he flung the third and final vial at the demon, using his telekinesis to ensure the potion had the desired impact. As the glass smashed he heard an ear splitting roar and then silence. As the newfound pain in his chest took over, everything went black.

* * *

"Why's it taking so long?" Piper asked impatiently.

"His body is still weak from the infection, that plus a severe stab wound and it's a wonder he's still alive." Leo replied. "What puzzles me is how he managed to vanquish the Jagron."

"It killed his mother Leo," Phoebe reminded. "He's probably vanquished it before."

"With a stab wound _and _a deadly disease?" the elder questioned. "I just get the feeling he's not telling us something."

"When does he _ever _tell us something?" Piper sighed.

"Guys, he just saved all of our necks. Let's cut him some slack."

Chris smiled. Paige had always been his favourite aunt.

He made a show of his eyes fluttering open, as if he hadn't been playing possum for the past few minutes, and sat up.


	4. Chapter 4

The action was harder than he thought it would be. His chest, whilst healed, still ached. He would've fallen back down if it hadn't been for Piper's supportive arm on his shoulder.

Wait. Piper was helping him?

"Easy there tiger." said Phoebe.

"You're still weak from the infection." Leo added.

Chris looked around himself, trying to see past the concerned faces and work out where he was. Paige gave him a knowing smile.

"You're back at the manor." she said.

He shuffled so his back was resting against the edge of the sofa and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How long was I out for?"

"An hour at least."

His eyes widened.

"Is Wyatt - ?"

"Wyatt's fine. You were right about the infection. Once you vanquished the Jagron his disease went with him." Piper reassured.

Chris closed his eyes. Her tone was comforting. He could almost pretend he was a kid again, being soothed back to sleep after a nightmare, but this woman wasn't the Piper he knew. He couldn't afford to get comfortable. He had to focus on his mission.

Chris' eyes snapped open and he gingerly stood.

"Where do you think you're going mister?" Piper snapped.

"Book of shadows. There's this demon quite high up on my list that might -"

"Oh no you don't!" she interrupted.

Chris stared at her, nonplussed.

"You are exhausted." Said Paige.

He had half a mind to retort with "_what else is new?" _but bit back the reply.

"If you're going to do anything; you're going to eat something." Piper said and promptly dragged him into the dining room.

"Wow." Chris gasped. The table was brimming with food. "Erm...Piper?"

"What? I cook when I'm nervous."

Chris grinned, _that _he already knew.

"I don't think I can eat ALL of this." he said, laughing and then wincing as his chest heaved.

"Relax. Help is at hand!" said Paige.

They all sat at the table, armed with cutlery instead of potions for once.

"It's been a long time since we last had a proper family dinner" Piper said as she sat down at the head of the table. Chris fought hard to stop his jaw from hitting the table. How had he gone from being homeless to part of the family? "and now is the perfect time for one; to celebrate the fact that we're all alive. Now eat!"

They started to dig in but after only a few mouthfuls Chris felt overwhelmed by emotions. He politely excused himself, claiming to need the toilet and dashed into the kitchen. This was ridiculous. He was getting choked up over a _meal._

"Hey." Chris went rigid at the sound of Piper's voice. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" he asked, turning to face her. "I've done nothing but lie to you from day one."

She approached him as she noticed the tears in his eyes.

"But you don't want to." she said softly. "Believe it or not, I've actually come to trust your judgement after what you did for Wyatt today." Chris looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you, for how _we've _treated you."

Chris shrugged.

"I deserved it half the time."

"But not all the time. That's going to change." Piper's demeanour abruptly reverted back to normal along with her voice. "Now are you going to join this family dinner or not?"

Chris smiled. She didn't even know who he was, but this was good enough for the time being.


End file.
